Jaba Kankava


Jaba Kankava is a Georgian footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Tobol.
He has previously played for Reims, Dinamo Tbilisi, Alania Vladikavkaz, Arsenal Kyiv, and FC Dnipro.

Career

In 2004 Jaba Kankava started his football career with Dinamo Tbilisi, where Gia Geguchadze was just appointed as head coach. Geguchadze started to create a new club with youngsters and Kankava became a main member of them. In his first year, Kankava won the Georgian Cup, and played in the UEFA Europa League scoring the winning goal against Slavia Prague and contributing to the qualification for the group stages.
After one season at Dinamo, Kankava moved to Alania Vladikavkaz, where he played 12 matches, before signing a contract with Arsenal Kyiv in 2005. At Arsenal Kyiv, he played 24 matches and scored 4 goals.
In 2007, Kankava agreed to sign a three-year contract with league rival Dnipro. Newly-arrived Kankava was among the starting squad from the first games but received a red card against Dynamo Kyiv because of a tough tackle and missed several games and was among the bench players. In eight years at Dnipro, he played 91 matches and scored 4 goals.
In 2015, Kankava joined Ligue 1 club Reims. In July 2017, he agreed to the termination of his contract which ran until 2018.
On 22 November 2018, Kankava signed a new two-year contract with FC Tobol.

International career

Kankava played 5 games in 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying and 9 games in UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying. He also played 2 friendlies i 4 in 2006, 2 in 2007 and 2 in 2008.
Kankava scored a goal against Croatia in UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying.

International goals

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.1 March 2006Ta' Qali National Stadium, Attard2–02–0Friendly
2.16 November 2007Al-Gharafa Stadium, Doha1–02–1Friendly
3.3 June 2011Stadion Poljud, Split1–01–2UEFA Euro 2012 qualification
4.6 September 2011Ta' Qali National Stadium, Attard1–01–1UEFA Euro 2012 qualification
5.14 October 2014Estádio Algarve, Faro/Loulé3–03–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
6.25 March 2015Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi1–02–0Friendly
7.12 October 2015Red Bull Arena, Leipzig1-11–2UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
8.13 October 2018Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi3–03–02018–19 UEFA Nations League D
9.16 October 2018Daugava Stadium, Riga1–03–02018–19 UEFA Nations League D
10.15 October 2019Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar2–03–2UEFA Euro 2020 qualification

Career statistics

International

Honours

Club

;FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
UEFA Europa League runner-up: 2014–15

Awards

On 30 March 2014, Kankava saved the life of FC Dynamo Kyiv captain, Oleh Husyev, after Husyev was briefly knocked unconscious in a collision and swallowed his tongue which blocked his airway. Kankava reacted immediately by sticking his fingers in Husyev's mouth to dislodge his tongue and clear his airway. On 12 April 2014 before Dnipro played Metalurh Zaporizhya at the Dnipro Arena, Kankava was awarded the Order of Merit for his actions in Dnipropetrovsk.